Multi-Modal Fluid Condition Sensor Platform and System Therefor

1. An integrated system for continuous monitoring of multiple properties of a fluid derived from measurements from one or more sensors within a fluid-based closed-system environment comprising: a bolt comprising one or more embedded sensors for continuous monitoring of properties of a fluid including pressure, temperature, or fluid level or a combination thereof, and an aperture at an end of the bolt allows the one or more sensors to contact said fluid; and one or more non-sensor elements comprising a wireless transmitter.

2. The integrated system of claim 1 , wherein said system is an in-motor lubrication monitoring system.

3. The integrated system of claim 1 , wherein said monitoring is real-time.

4. The integrated system of claim 1 , built into the form factor of a standard size and shaped oil plug element found within a reciprocating engine oil drain plug, wherein said system is remotely located from a display and processing unit by wired or wireless data telemetry.

5. The integrated system of claim 1 , additionally comprising a remotely located processing and display unit.

6. The integrated system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor modalities comprise at least two of electrical, temperature, magnetic, optical and pressure sensors.

7. The integrated system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the sensor modalities comprises an inductor.

8. The integrated system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor modalities comprise at least magnetic and optical sensors.

9. The integrated system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor modalities comprise at least electrical, magnetic and optical sensors.

10. The integrated system of claim 1 , contained within an epoxy encapsulation that can support high temperature and high pressure environments.

11. The integrated system of claim 1 , further comprising multiple digital signal processor modules for detection of both single and multiple related fluid characteristics.

12. The integrated system of claim 1 , further comprising multi-stage output signal generation selected from the group consisting of error indication, specific data signature detection signal, specific data signature signal detection strength level, and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) data output.

13. The integrated system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor modality measurements are analyzed using Kalman Filtering techniques.

14. The integrated system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor modality measurements are analyzed using Baysian analytic techniques.

15. The integrated system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor modality measurements are analyzed using hidden-Markov Filtering techniques.

16. The integrated system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor modality measurements are analyzed using fuzzy logic analysis techniques.

17. The integrated system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor modality measurements are analyzed using neural network analysis techniques.

18. The integrated system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor modality measurements comprise at least one of the following: a. Differential temperature comparison; b. Differential magnetic sensor comparison; c. Differential inductive sensor comparison; d. Differential electrical impedance comparison; e. Differential optical absorption comparison; f. Any combination and integrated comparison consisting of at least a set of two sensors; g. Data comparison of each sensor vector versus time and temperature; h. Data comparison of an integrated vector consisting of a set of at least two sensors combined; i. Inductive data comparison versus time and temperature; j. Optical data comparison versus time and temperature; k. Optical data comparison versus temperature and pressure; l. Temperature data comparison versus time and pressure to detect peak heat; and m. Other sensor combinations.

19. A method of continuously monitoring an operating fluid of a machine comprising: measuring a condition of the fluid using the integrated system comprising one or more sensors of claim 1 , filtering data from the sensors, integrating the data from the sensors, analyzing the data from the sensors, deriving a property of the fluid from the data, transmitting the derived property of the fluid condition to a receiver, and repeating the process so as to accumulate a time-series of a fluid property that tracks changes in the operating condition of the fluid.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising tracking the condition of the fluid by calculating the time series expected rates of change versus observed rates of change of any single or multiple conditions.

21. The method of claim 19 , further comprising calculating the expected divergence or convergence across multiple sensor time series data of anticipated and expected measured value changes versus unexpected changes.

22. The method of claim 19 , wherein the first condition comprises pressure measurement.

23. The method of claim 19 , wherein the second condition comprises temperature measurement.

24. The method of claim 19 , wherein the filtering comprises qualifying measurement from the first condition by the second condition.

25. The method of claim 19 , wherein the receiver comprises a processing unit.

26. The method of claim 19 , wherein the first condition comprises pressure measurement, the second condition comprises temperature measurement, and the receiver comprises a processing unit.

27. An integrated system for monitoring multiple properties, one of which is the level of a fluid in a closed system, comprising an oil pan drain plug comprising at least one embedded sensor that measures the pressure of the fluid below its surface compared to ambient pressure and an aperture at an end of the oil plug allows the at least one embedded sensor to contact said fluid; and one or more non-sensor elements comprising a wireless transmitter.

28. The method of claim 27 , further comprising a temperature sensor coupled to the system that compensates the pressure readings for temperature.

29. The system of claim 27 for monitoring multiple properties, wherein the level of the fluid in the closed system comprises one of the properties, and wherein one of the sensor modalities comprises pressure sensing.

30. The integrated system of claim 27 , wherein a method of signal source from a battery includes power to operate the system.

31. The integrated system of claim 30 , wherein the battery is charged by an electrical current provided by at least one of the following methods of signal source to include power to operate the system: (a) source that converts vibration energy to an electrical current; (b) a source that converts heat energy to an electrical current; or (c) a source that converts electromagnetic energy to an electrical current.

32. The integrated system of claim 27 , wherein a signal source from a capacitor includes power to operate the system, and wherein the capacitor is charged by an electrical current provided by at least one of the following methods of signal source to include power to operate the system: a. a source that converts vibration energy to an electrical current; b. a source that converts heat energy to an electrical current; and c. a source that converts electromagnetic energy to an electrical current.

33. The integrated system of claim 32 , wherein the capacitor is an electric double layer capacitor.